For Her Sake
by rinappe
Summary: The boy with a smile of ice smiles solely for her sake.


Who do you live for?

It's such a strange question. Who else would you live for but yourself? Why would you do anything that benefits anyone but yourself?

"Kiichan, come here," she called the little blunette over. His amethyst eyes shone upon hearing her voice and skipped his way over.

"If you were to live with someone for the rest of your life, who is the first person that comes to mind?" she asked.

The five year old shut his eyes tight, trying to give off the impression he was thinking really hard.

"Hmmmm, that's a really hard question," he whined, flinging himself onto her lap. "Explain!"

She laughed at his playfulness, and gently pat his head. "Who is the person you want to be with forever?"

Hiura Kirina furrowed his eyebrows, as if she'd offended him. "You, of course! I don't need anyone else!"

"How about your friends?"

"You're more important!"

"Am I really?"

"Yes! Because I love you a whooooooooole lot!!" he cheered, and stretched his arms as wide as he could to prove his love.

She looked at him in surprise, but it quickly melted into a warm smile.

"Well, I love you a whoooole lot too, Kiichan," she replied and enveloped him in a warm hug.

To Kirina, he only needed to live for her. To make her happy, like she did for him.

"Kirina, how is she doing?" Inamori Asuto would often ask as they walked home from school.

"Healthier than ever! Norika's mom recently came over to have tea too," he grinned. Asuto always knew, that his smile was brightest whenever he talked about her.

Then, for the first time in his life, he asked for something selfish.

"I'll be going to Tokyo, to continue playing soccer," he declared, trembling in fear of leaving her behind. All she had to do was ask him if he really wanted to go and he would change his mind...

"Is that so? Well I hope you have fun, Kiichan," she replied with her warm smile.

It lightened him from any guilt he would have felt but there was always that small speck of uneasiness that stayed. Even on the ship to the mainland, he couldn't help but shed a few tears. She wasn't going to be with him forever.

He had to remember she wasn't going to be around forever.

Kirina always made a point to make sure she was always a part of him.

"I'll take back our soccer and make her proud,"

And proud she was. He could hear it in her voice over the phone.

"You were wonderful, Kiichan. I watched your finals match," she'd beamed. Hearing her voice praise him made him feel warm and fluffy inside, and he couldn't wait to give her a hug when they returned.

"I swear on her name, I'll find out your identity!"

Kazemaru Ichirouta had been confused by his outburst to unravel Mutekigahara Fujimaru's true self, questioning whose name he was swearing on.

Kirina only responded with a large grin, saying, "I'll introduce her to you when we win!"

And win, they did. Triumphing over not only the tournament, but the Orion Foundation. It was a victory they truly deserved.

So he wanted to tell her first.

"We did it! We won the FFI! Are you—"

His exclamations were interrupted with quiet sniffles. "Grand—"

"Kirina, you need to come home now," a rougher voice came from the other side of the call. He froze, recognizing the voice to be Mansaku's father. No, she wasn't gone. She's still here.

But he knew she wasn't going to be around forever.

They all came with him, patting his back and saying words of comfort to soothe his tears.

"I'm home," he murmured in front of the stone.

He missed how she would turn to his calls.

"I brought someone who wanted to meet you," his voice cracked as he fell to the pale grass, rocky gravel underneath stabbing at his legs. But it was numb.

'Oh? Who is this nice young man, Kiichan?' he swore he heard her voice, but that was all in his head.

"Kazemaru-san, m-meet my..."

He broke down before he could finish his sentence. His eyes swam with hot tears, running down his cheeks like rushing waterfalls. He tried to sniffle out his cries but they wouldn't stay silent. Asuto and Mansaku rushes to Kirina's side, patting him and hushing him to calm him down.

It was like how she would do it when he was younger.

Kazemaru looked at the poor boy with sorrowful eyes, not knowing how to help him.

"She would've loved all of you," Kirina hiccuped. "She told me she looked forward to meeting Inazuma Japan one day."

"Grandma..."

More Inakuni kids rushed to Kirina's side, some joining in his crying, others frustrated that they couldn't talk more with the grandma everyone loved and adored.

Kazemaru could only kneel in front of the gravestone, putting his hands together in prayer.

"For her sake, huh?"


End file.
